When Jiang Ning heard the good news that Lin Tao's house had collapsed, she almost burst out laughing.

They were so smug yesterday, but today their house collapsed, and they don't even have a place to sleep.

I heard that when Lin Tao's house collapsed, he was still clinging to that bag of money and was almost hit by the falling wall.

Now, they are all staying at Gao Qiang's house.

Gao Qiang felt uncomfortable, but he had just flattered him at his home yesterday, so it wouldn't be too much to offer a little help today, right?

Lin Tao didn't feel at all that moving in would be a disturbance to Gao Qiang's family.

Because he now has money, Lin Tao's mindset is completely different this time compared to last time.

He asked Gao Qiang, with an air of wealth and power, "How much does it cost to build a house?"

Gao Qiang thought for a moment and told him, "It depends on what kind of house you build. A mud-brick house costs a little over a thousand, while a red-brick house would probably cost two or three thousand now."

"Oh, I see. It's not that expensive. Could you help me find a construction team?"

Lin Tao spoke very arrogantly.

What he needs now is speed.

Gao Qiang immediately thought of Luo Guangming and said to him:

"Guangming is currently in charge of the construction team, but he has a lot of work on his hands, so I'm afraid..."

He knew that Luo Guangming and Lin Chen had a relationship even closer than that of blood brothers, and that Luo might refuse to build a house for him.

Lin Tao put his hands behind his back, revealing a mysterious expression:

"I refuse to believe it. With money in his hands, would Luo Guangming turn down money?"

Luo Guangming wasn't against money; he just didn't want to let his buddies down.

When Lin Chen heard that he had refused Lin Tao's invitation to build a house, he specially sent someone to tell him to take the job without hesitation, since it wasn't like he wouldn't be paid.

Luo Guangming immediately understood the deeper meaning behind his words, and gave Lin Tao a project quote of more than five thousand yuan, and three thousand yuan had to be paid in advance, with the remaining money to be paid in full when the topping-out ceremony was held.

Lin Tao was furious; Luo Guangming was clearly asking for an exorbitant price.

However, to save face, he agreed, only asking him to quickly organize personnel to arrive at the site for construction.

Lin Tao returned from Guangzhou this time because he had accidentally offended the boss's nemesis. In order to save his life, the boss told him to go home and lay low for a few months. He could go back after the storm had passed.

He needs to take advantage of these few months to help his family solve their housing problem.

Soon, Luo Guangming personally led an engineering team of more than a dozen people to begin selecting a site and digging the foundation.

Although Lin Tao felt a pang of pain at having to pay Luo Guangming three thousand yuan, the thought of being able to order him around made him feel a different kind of smugness.

With the house arrangements settled, he had nothing to do, so he thought of depositing the remaining money in the bank.

He arrived in the county town with a bag full of money, kept 1,000 yuan of the remaining money, and deposited the rest into a savings account.

He carried a savings book with 10,000 yuan in his pocket, and wandered around the county town at will, buying whatever he saw that was delicious and playing whatever he saw that was fun.

I happened to pass by a park and saw some birds for sale, so I curiously went over to take a look.

He had heard that people in the city with a little spare money liked to keep a bird as a pet.

Upon inquiring, I learned that a bird in a cage only cost five yuan, which wasn't unaffordable, so I picked one.

No sooner had he made his choice than an old man rushed over, making a move to snatch the birdcage away.

"I was the one who first saw this bird; I'm just going back to get the money," the old man said anxiously.

Lin Tao looked at the old man, who was dressed in a black silk shirt and held a folding fan. He exuded an air of authority and looked like an official, so Lin Tao started chatting with him.

Just as he had expected, the old man claimed to be the director of the printing factory, a leader who was about to retire.

After spending a few months in the underworld, he now understood the importance of connections, and he gave the old man the bird he liked.

The old man was delighted and invited him to his home for tea. Over time, the two found they got along well and became close friends despite their age difference.

......

As the review entered its most crucial final sprint, Jiang Ning prepared several sets of mock exams for herself and Lin Chen, and the two simulated the exams according to the official exam time.

Having just finished two sets of practice questions in the morning, and without even checking the answers, Lin Chen confidently said:

“I’m sure I’ll score higher than you this time. I’ve reviewed all of these questions before.”

Jiang Ning's online space contains a lot of review materials, including the original questions from 1978.

She helped Lin Chen review, quietly going through all the questions together.

The mock exam questions are similar in format to the actual exam, making them highly targeted – it's practically the ultimate cheat code.

Lin Qiao is also taking the college entrance examination, and her review progress is following the school's schedule.

But Jiang Ning would also subtly reveal the questions to her.

Barring any unforeseen circumstances, all three of them will have no problem getting into Tsinghua University.

“Okay, let’s check the answers.” Jiang Ning smiled and took out the materials.

Just as the two were huddled together flipping through the book, a commune official came running over, waving a newspaper in his hand.

"Congratulations, Brother Chen, you're in the newspaper."

He had a smile on his face and his tone was full of joy.

Confused, Lin Chen picked up the newspaper and began to read it.

Jiang Ning also came over and saw the front page headline of the county newspaper, which was about the printing factory's miraculous recovery.

The article praises how Deputy Factory Director Shen Bo and Sales Director Lin Chen worked together to turn a near-bankrupt printing factory around.

To everyone's surprise, the author of the article was Wang Qiuju.

She's really good at propaganda; she actually leaked this little thing to the newspaper.

Lin Chen knew that his collaboration with Shen Bo carried some risks.

Wang Qiuju's promotion of this will inevitably attract a lot of criticism.

After seeing the commune official off with a smile, Jiang Ning looked at Lin Chen:

"It seems you can't continue as the sales manager. You should get out of the printing plant as soon as possible."

Lin Chen nodded: "Yes, I'll go to the county town tomorrow and resolve this matter properly."

The next day, Lin Chen arrived at the printing factory. Shen Bo, completely oblivious, even smiled and showed him the newspaper, saying that the factory had been featured in the newspaper and that he had given it a good publicity boost.

Lin Chen, however, smiled and proposed terminating the contract.

"Uncle Shen, our cooperation model is difficult for the public to accept in this day and age. I was originally thinking of quietly doing big things and expanding the scale of our printing factory, but it seems that's impossible now."

Let's end our cooperation here. Let's settle the accounts today. You can continue with your existing sales channels for the books printed by the printing plant.

Shen Bo was stunned upon hearing this.

After a long pause, he finally realized the chain reaction that Wang Qiuju's published article would bring.

Originally, the higher authorities would turn a blind eye to a factory that was about to go bankrupt and let it fend for itself. But now things are different; higher-level departments will come to investigate.

Who knows what accusations they'll level against Lin Chen then!

Lin Chen completed his resignation process as quickly as possible, and his settlement money was wired to his home. Just as he stepped out of the factory gate, a group of reporters swarmed around him, surrounding him completely...